ISRAELITY

Social innovators will give first-hand accounts of life in an unknown and unshown Israel—their personal ISRAELITYs.

Join us for this series of open dialogues that will make you rethink your definition of reality in Israel.

Previous Events

Thursday, October 8; 7pm, at Adath Israel Congregation

STRANGERS IN A JEWISH LAND: MIGRANT WORKERS AND REFUGEES IN ISRAEL

Co-Chairs: Nina Paul and Marcie Bachrach

Dr. Adriana Kemp will examine the politics and history at the source of this increased immigration, and discuss its challenges—particularly the effects on life in Israel that escape the daily headlines.

In Israel, as in the U.S., immigration is a complex, emotionally charged issue. While citizens call for the removal of African refugees from Tel Aviv, the government has granted legal status to hundreds of children of migrant workers. And the influx of non-Jewish immigrants into Israel’s predominantly Jewish society only continues to increase.

Dr. Adriana Kemp is an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at Tel Aviv University, and has been a visiting professor at Columbia and San Diego State Universities. Her research interests are sociology of the state and civil society, migrant workers and citizenship, non-governmental organizations, and welfare and gender. Kemp co-chaired the Association for Civil Rights, the largest human rights organization in Israel. She is currently completing a three-year research project on political and public attitudes about illegal immigration.

Wednesday, March 25; 7pm, at the Mayerson JCC

DON’T ASK PERMISSION TO CHANGE THE WORLD

Co-Chairs: Ariella Cohen and Dr. Ingrid Epstein

Adi Altschuler will talk about her experience as a social entrepreneur and give advice for creating change in our own community.

Before others identify a problem, Adi Altschuler has launched a solution. That’s not uncommon in Israel—the “start-up nation”—but unlike most entrepreneurs, Adi isn’t building a company or a fortune; she’s building a better world. At 16, she eased social isolation for children with disabilities. At 25, she helped her peers personally understand the Holocaust. Now she works for Google, transforming Israel’s education system.

As Google for Education’s Israel Manager, 28-year-old Adi Altschuler has trained over 35,000 teachers to use technology in their classrooms. In 2002, she founded Krembo Wings, a youth movement to build relationships between children with special needs and their able-bodied peers, and in 2011, she founded Memories@Home, which gives young adults opportunities to meaningfully commemorate the Holocaust. In 2014, Altschuler was named one of Time magazine’s six “Next Generation Leaders” and spoke at the U.N. about entrepreneurship in Israel.

Sunday, June 28; 6pm, at Washington Park in Over-The-Rhine

CONCERT: THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY

Join Noa and Mira for their public performance with their band at Washington Park in Over-the-Rhine.